WE all have need of patience!
Perhaps at this time of the year the need of patience is more evident than in any other season. Even as I write, I am thinking of things that need attending to!
A wise man, when questioned by a younger man on his standards of patience, told him that all things do eventually come to those that wait. But, it is mastering patience that we need patience for!
In contrast to our rushing about at this time of the year, the Christmas story is all about patience. The promise of a Saviour took generations before it was fulfilled. Mary and Joseph had to make a difficult journey to Bethlehem right when they would have preferred to be at home in comfort. The birth of Christ did not happen in a hurry. The wise men took months to follow the star. And all that flowed from Christ’s birth is a lesson in patience. Right now we have to patiently wait for His return. That is a thing which cannot be hurried-up (no matter how many predictions about the end of the world are made!)
In these last few days to Christmas Day itself, it would do us all a power of good to take our foot of the fuel pedal! The best gift we can give is the gift of patience. Waiting is a lost habit in our society.
Lack of patience is evidence of lack of faith. We don’t believe the thing will come to pass, so we try and hurry it up! We have no stillness, and we lose control by going faster and faster, propelled on by worry and impatience.
The Scriptures provide a good programme for self-control.
Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love are the eight elements we should be nurturing in our characters. Working on these, introducing them into our daily living, will bring us great rewards. They will yield a harvest of restfulness, wisdom, carefulness, and service.
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come to this earth to teach us how to be frazzled specimens of humanity, He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly! Very often our Lord, while on earth, made reference to His Father’s creation to teach vital spiritual lessons. Some of His choicest saints have lived close to nature and been keen observers of creation. Job, David, and Solomon are but three such examples. I mention these men because almost half of all the references made to snow are found in their writings. Snow is a grand example of patience! It falls at approximately just 3.1mph yet a single snowstorm may drop 40 million tons, carrying the energy equivalent to 120 atom bombs! When we consider the tiny flakes that make up such a delivery to earth, that is a relentless and patient job well done!
Today then, let us “stand still and consider the wondrous works of God” and in seasonal joy let us enter into “the treasures of the snow.”
